Qian Guran: "I just knocked on He Kao's door, but there's no answer. He must not be home; I don't know where he's gone. Should I call out again?"
Huang Xiaopang: "I heard he went back to his hometown in Jiangbei today, not sure if he's returned. Why knock? Just send him a message."
Qian Guran didn't look for He Kao directly in order to appear more natural and avoid raising suspicions. He just wants to know—why is everything in He Kao's apartment gone?
But in Xiaopang's eyes, Qian Guran seemed quite odd. Instead of simply sending a message, he went to knock on the door, and when no one answered, he asked him out.
What is prejudice? This is prejudice!
Before tonight, Huang Xiaopang wouldn't have thought like this. Who would suspect such things without reason? But tonight, he received two mysterious emails, warning him that a group of people were investigating the whereabouts of the "Hidden Moth."
It's the first time Huang Xiaopang heard of the term Hidden Moth, and it sounded quite fitting. The name itself wasn't important; what mattered was the reality that matched the name.
The email also warned him to pay attention to the new colleague, Qian Guran, and particularly emphasized that someone mistakenly considered He Kao a suspect.
With this preconceived notion in his mind, Huang Xiaopang glanced over and saw nothing but flaws in Qian Guran's behavior. And Qian Guran was waiting for this comment, immediately taking out his phone to send He Kao a message—
"Xiaopang and I are downstairs having skewers at Dashixi. Want to come join us for a drink? I knocked earlier, but you weren't home." He also sent a picture of himself and Xiaopang sitting there eating skewers.
He Kao, who was making handcrafted Bamboo Thunder, received the message, cleaned his hands, changed clothes, and went downstairs to the barbecue stall, where he could see Xiaopang and Old Qian sitting outside from a distance.
Qian Guran: "Where did you come from? Weren't you home earlier?"
He Kao: "I went back to my hometown today, just got back… this barbecue place is nice, I've ordered delivery from here several times."
Xiaopang: "Ordering delivery at home isn't as comfortable as sitting here." Actually, Xiaopang had already known He Kao was back and even had his car returned because he had received a call from his mother.
He Kao had sent Xiaopang an anonymous email and was secretly observing Xiaopang at this moment. He found that Xiaopang acted very naturally in front of Qian Guran, causing some admiration.
The three at the table secretly observed each other while enjoying skewers and drinks, laughing and chatting without any slip-ups, each proficient in their acts.
Qian Guran had been wanting to know if He Kao returned to his room, if those things were stolen, or if he moved them himself. But he couldn't bring it up. The barbecue went on for over an hour, leaving Qian Guran feeling quite stifled!
He Kao wasn't intentionally holding out on Old Qian; he didn't know Old Qian had already discovered he moved!
Once they finally finished the skewers, Qian Guran hurried to pay the bill, taking an additional box of beer before they left, deliberately making it look laborious.
He Kao, being a strong young man and quite considerate of his colleagues, took the beer to help carry it. Once they reached Building No. 1, He Kao handed the beer back to Qian Guran, saying, "I'm not going up, you go ahead."
Qian Guran was puzzled: "Why aren't you going back to sleep? Do you know what time it is?"
He Kao explained, "I moved to another apartment, to Building No. 3."
So that's it! Qian Guran exclaimed in surprise, "You were living fine, why move all of a sudden?"
He Kao laughed, "Wasn't it because you, Old Qian, inspired me."
Qian Guran felt his heart tighten but maintained a composed face as he countered, "What does it have to do with me?"
He Kao: "After visiting your apartment that day, I went back realizing my place was too small, always felt cramped with three people chatting, so I moved to a bigger place."
Qian Guran: "Did you move into a two-bedroom apartment?"
He Kao: "Not really, just moved to an apartment like Xiaopang's, a one-bedroom unit, just today."
Xiaopang: "Now that's better. Why not live comfortably? You have no burdens, and it's not like you can't afford it!"
Since his probation was over, He Kao's salary, minus his social insurance, housing fund, income tax, and other deductions, came to about seventeen thousand a month. At Tengxin Qijiang Branch, the salary is distributed over fifteen months annually.
So theoretically, his annual salary approached three hundred thousand, with an actual after-tax income of just over two hundred thousand, which is quite good among his peers, depending on whom you compare it with.
Qi Yuan University might not be on par with Chunhua or Ping University, but it's still a double first-class institution in Eastern Country. He Kao was a master's graduate from a popular discipline, with outstanding academic performance and an impressive record.
For the most successful domestic internet company, if it can't offer a decent salary, that would genuinely be uncommon.
As for Huang Xiaopang, although his academic credentials weren't as strong as He Kao's, he started working three years earlier and had been in the most profitable core department of the group. He was later transferred to handle the core operations of the business division, so he was two levels higher than He Kao.
He Kao, who had just transitioned to a full-time position, was at P2 Level. Huang Xiaopang was at P4 Level, while Qian Guran was at P5 Level. Qian Guran is a Chunhua doctorate with nearly a decade of work experience, and his current salary level is considered average among his classmates.
Tengxin Group's employee structure consists of twelve levels, with the highest, P12 Level, being the founding partners. The business division manager Gao Xue'e is at P6 Level, only one level higher than Qian Guran.
The president of the Qi Yuan Branch, Fang Qizhi, is at P9 Level, a member of the Group's Executive Committee, though ranked lower.
He Kao needn't compare himself to them and is quite satisfied with his current life. He grew up with a lack of security, and it wasn't until after he graduated with his master's and started working that his mindset began to change, as if he suddenly freed himself from some kind of restraint.
To use a common saying: he's finally made his mark!
It sounds absurd, just a young man starting his career—how can one talk about making a mark? But He Kao doesn't have ambitions to conquer the world; he simply feels that finally, he doesn't need to rely on anyone and can live well on his own.
The years of studying weren't in vain; at least he can now settle down and support himself… Yet, the drama stirred up by his aunt's family felt like a bucket of cold water. Even if he managed to dodge it, the chill sweated out of him—the strong sense of insecurity returned.
He's truly innocent, unaware, unprepared, and unprotected. But the police might not believe his innocence. If he gets arrested and detained for a few days, many things might get ruined.
Would his original unit take him back? After all, he's just an insignificant figure. It's better to avoid complications. In the future, finding a similar position at a company like Tengxin or trying to enter the civil service would likely face challenging background checks.
He thought his abilities were enough to secure a decent living, even felt quite buoyant at times, but in a blink, he realized how fragile all these good things still were.
Others might not think so much, but that's just He Kao's nature. He had even hypothesized, what if it truly happened? It's not even possible to return home to farm, as he's a city resident, not a villager, with no land left to cultivate.
Fortunately, he still has skills—he could always work as a carpenter… But even if he wanted to be a carpenter now, it seemed uneasy. Out of nowhere, someone started keeping an eye on him, like Old Qian at this moment.
His father's death was shrouded in mystery, and He Kao instinctively felt that being watched, suspected of being a Hidden Moth, was not a good sign.
He also knew that it wasn't just Qian Guran watching him; there were at least a man and a woman from the recorded conversation, with the man's voice not belonging to Old Qian.
Standing with a box of beer at the entrance of the building, Qian Guran felt a bit disoriented, watching Xiaopang and He Kao head towards Building No. 3.
Xiaopang insisted on taking a look at He Kao's new apartment as soon as he heard he moved to Building No. 3. Upon entering, they were in a small living room, and Xiaopang sniffed the air, saying, "Why does it smell like gunpowder?"
He Kao: "Your nose is sharp. You can smell that?"
Earlier, in his bedroom, He Kao opened a firecracker, filling homemade small bamboo tubes with the black powder. The scent was faint, and he handled it cautiously, so the average person wouldn't notice it.
Xiaopang pushed the bathroom door open for a look, then went into the bedroom as if it were his own house, only to exclaim, "You're making Bamboo Thunder again? Planning to go fish blasting?"
**